It is common for manufacturers to make their products from foamed, high gloss or textured plastic parts. Once the appropriate tooling is completed, the manufacturing methods produce parts with high production rates, high yields and low costs. However, the parts as manufactured contain no graphical enhancements to promote or distinguish manufacturers, enhance the marketing attractiveness of the end product, or otherwise customize the appearance of the parts.
Currently, manufacturers can create a distinctive image on an article by painting the article, placing a decal onto the article, or transferring an image onto the article.
Distinctive features may be added to an article of manufacture by painting the article using well-known techniques. Paint stations are a post-manufacturing process often using a template applied over the article and a single color of paint sprayed over the template. The paint goes onto, not into, the surface of the article. The paint is allowed to dry and/or the paint is heated to dry and cure the paint. The painting process is environmentally unfriendly as evidenced by the protective breathing equipment and eye protection equipment which one must wear when applying the paint. Yield can be low due to misplacement of the template, over-application of paint, or inconsistency in the paint material. The image detail is limited by the detail achievable with the template. The finished, painted surface may also require a post-treatment such as a sealer in order to protect against friction wear upon the painted image due to normal use of the finished product. Painting an article produces an article with an image of limited detail, usually in a single color, using an environmentally unfriendly process which requires significant post-manufacture processing and does not readily accommodate variation of the image painted on the article.
Another method of adding distinctive features to an article of manufacture is to apply a decal to the article after manufacture. A decal is one or more graphical images placed on a thin, adhesive material to be permanently applied to the surface of the article. Like painting of an image, a decal often requires a finish coat of clear sealer to protect the decal from wear or coming off in normal use of the finished product. Alternatively, a decal is sometimes made on a thicker, more durable material, with a stronger adhesive, in order to better withstand damage to the image from normal use of the finished product. Examples include the heavy brand name decals installed on my desktop and laptop computers. Decals can be difficult to accurately apply on the article without misapplying the decal or badge, and decals are subject to wear through normal use. Decals and badges strong enough to withstand some wear and tear are also thick enough to have ridges that catch on other items in normal use. In the event that the decal or badge comes off, the consumer is left with an inconvenient glue mess where the decal or badge has come off, detracting from, rather than enhancing, the appearance of the article.
Graphics can also be added to an article by wrapping the article in a transfer medium having a graphical image, wrapping a weft fabric around the transfer medium, encasing the wrapped article in a vacuum-sealable bag and removing the air from the bag. The bag, weft fabric, transfer medium and the wrapped article are heated to transfer the ink onto the article, and harden the ink by polymerization. The article may be pre-treated with a primer coat of paint, anodizing, or de-greasing in order to avoid diffusion of the ink as it transfers to the article. Diffusion of ink is considered a defect in this process of image transfer. In some embodiments, this process utilizes a paper transfer medium, a weft fabric to enable air movement, and a separate vacuum-seal bag. A vacuum is drawn on the vacuum-seal bag, pulling the paper transfer tight to the article. The vacuum air flow is enable by voids in the weft fabric. In other embodiments, the transfer medium and the vacuum bag are one and the same. In this post-manufacturing process, the bags and transfers are made by third party vendors, which can add substantial time to the decorative process and reduce flexibility in customizing the graphic. In addition, the image is only transferred onto the surface of the article, not into the surface of the article.
Currently, manufacturers can create distinctive images on their articles of manufacture by painting the article, placing a decal onto a surface of the article, or transferring an image onto a surface of the article. None of these solutions provides for placing a multi-color high-resolution image both on, and in, an article of manufacture in a manner which accommodates personalization and customization with a short setup time, high yield, low cost, and that is environmentally friendly.